
ADDRESS 

DfiLIVERED AT THE 

U. 5. niLITARY ACADEflY, 

WE5T POINT, N. Y. 




AT THE EXERCISES INCIDENT TO THE 

CENTENARY OF 
MAJOR-GENERAL ROBERT ANDERSON, 

U. S. ARflY. 

JUNE 14TM, 1905. 



BY- 



COLONEL ARTILLBr/ CORPS, 
UNITED STATES ARMY, 






f\ n i- 



<^.c/tt. 



PREFACE. 



Telegram received 10 P. W. 
New York (Jity, June 10, li)05. 
To Colonel Greenough, Fort Hamilton, N. Y. H. 
General Grant requests me t'> ask you from him 
to deliver my father, General Andersoii's, centenary 
address at West Point on Wednesda}^, June 14Hi. * * 
Full memorial services by order of secretary of war. * * 

Blrs. jfames M. Lawton. 

While on duty at the U, S. M. A. from 1868 to 1873 it 
was my privilege to be associated with Major-General 
Robert Anderson, and with his family in a way which 
made me feel that I understood and appreciated the 
inner character of the man ; consequently when after a 
lapse of many years I received the dispatch above, it 
seemed but fitting, in view of the occasion, to make some 
effort to present to my audience what had impressed me 
as prominent and beautiful in the personality of the 
distinguished soldier, and deduce therefrom what I 
might, rather than content myself with matters well 
known in his public career and needing no reiteration. 

The extracts used are selected with as much care as 
the limited time permitted, from a mass of official docu- 
ments and private papers of General Anderson ia kands 
of his daughter. 




c^i^^:^^^/ 



Ft. HawiJfm^ N. Y. Colonel, Artillery Corps. 

August I sty lyof,. U. S. Anny. 



ADDRESS ON THE 

Ctntenary of HAJOR GENERAL ROBERT ANDERSON 

U. S. ARHY. 



Comrades and Friends : 

It is difficult now to fully realize or appreciate the 
motives which actuated the people of the United States 
at the outbreak of the war in 1861. It suffices for our 
purposes to know that, believing in certain doctrines or 
impelled otherwiae, first South Carolina, then in suc- 
cession ten other states passed ordinances of secession 
from the Union and proceeded to orpraiiize for the bitter 
struggle which might result, although many hoped 
that once it became evident the Soutlu^rn States were 
determined in the matter, a peaceable S'^paration would 
be acquiesced in by those of the North. Ir. is not nec- 
essary to-day to enlarge on what is familiar to all, to 
attempt a summary of the magnificent effort of the 
South in support of its stand, or to outline the grand 
and successful one of the N' orthern, Western and Border 
States to preserve intact the great Union which thereby 
has become permanent. 



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It suffices to call attention only to the fact that the 
masses on each side fought nobly for what they thought 
right, and have abided by the outcome. That since 
Appomattox, notwi-thstanding many trials, many mis- 
takes, the dauntless energy and patriotism of a reunited 
people have largely healed the wounds of war and 
developed the resources of our great country. 'Vhis 
process is still going on. Schools, academies and other 
Institutions of learning have sprung up for those who 
lacked such advantages. Foundries, mills, mines and 
other great industries have been and are being devel- 
oped everyv^■here. 

But in 1861 mf^n were wrought up to the inghest 
tension, not knowing v/hat was before them. 'I iu,' fail- 
fabric of their f;i!hers seemed to be tottering and ready 
to fall. Many whose hearts were with the Union hesi- 
tated, having been bred in the doctrines of State rights 
or doubting the wisdom of interference with those who 
desired separation. At this time the Army of the United 
States was but some sixteen thousand, three hundred 
and sixty seven strong— eighteen thousand and ninety 
three officers and men had the ranks been full. Of the 
one hundred and ninety eight companies of the line, 
one hundred and eighty three were on the frontier, or 
en route to posts west of the Mississippi. Thus but 
fifteen held the Canadian frontier and the Atlantic 
Coast from Maine to the Gulf. Of this scant strength 
General Upton says that "only twenty-six enlisted men 
are known to have joined the Bebellion", but "three 
hundred and thirteen officers", a total "of less than 
three percent", while no regiment, company or detach- 
ment even for a moment forgot its duty to the fing its 
members had sworn to protect." Of those -Southern 
born who remained true to the flat,'- was the siorliiig 
character whom we have met to-day to honor, Aude: son 
of Kentucky. 

Robert AnJerson^ son of Colonel Richard Cloitgh Andcr- 
.s^w— an aid to Lafayette, also to (general Nelson at York- 
town —and Sarah Marshall, cousin of the Chief Justice, 



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wa^boi^n at his father's estate— "The Soldiers' Retreat"— 
near Louisville, Ky., June 14th, 1805. He was 
appointed a Cadet at large in 1821. On July 20th of 
that y^ar he marched with the Corps of Cadets en route 
to Boston, as private in the 2nd Company. His journal 
of this trip is interestinof, and ^Yi]l tmd its place at the 
spot he loved so well— his Alma Mater. He graduated 
in July, 1825, and was assigned to the Artillery Corps. 
Joined th*^ company commanded by Captain Joseph P. 
Taylor at Fort Monroe, reporting to Colonel William K. 
Annistead. 

Shortly after joining he was detailed with his com- 
nuind to attack and," if possible, to capture the pirate 
Tardi, whose ship had been driven into Hampton 
Roads by stress of weather. He proceeded with a small 
party in rowboats to the pirate ship and attacked 
immediately. His fearless onslaught soon made him 
master of the vessel and 7 ardi shot himself dead on the 
deck to escape capture. The crew were all made pris- 
oners and conveyed to Fort Monroe, They were taken 
to Richmond and brought to trial before Chief Justice 
Marshall. After young Anderson had given his testi- 
mony he was sent for by the Chief Justice and scolded 
for not having made himself known to the cousin of 
his mother and one of his father's dearest friends. 

On October 21st, 1825, he accompanied his half brother, 
Richard Clough Anderson^ our first Envoy Extraordin- 
ary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Colombia, as his 
Private Secretary. His letters from there are most 
interesting. On his return after the death of his 
brother, he was assigned to duty at the Artillery 
School of Practice and later placed on (inbuince duty 
at the St. T.ouis Arsenal. 

^V]len the lUack tlawk War began he was ai)pointed 
Actitig inspector General on the 'AVd.^i of General 
Alkinson, and subsequently Governor Rcjiwlds commis- 
sioned iiim Inspector General of the Illinois Volunteers. 
Yv'hile on this duty he first became associated with 
Lincoln and jfeffcrsu,. Davis, whose names were after- 



U) 



wards so closely connected with his through the stirring 
events of 1861. After the Black Hawk War he was 
assigned by special orders to the Ordnance Corps, in 
recognition of his special qualifications for duty therein. 
No officer of his day did more to promote the efficiency 
and esprit of the Artillery, or labored more zealously or 
successfully for his arm of the service. Especially 
meritorioifts-wero his efforts towards the development of 
the Field Artillery. 

To his persistent efforts (beginning in 1836 and 
crowned with success in 1851) the enlisted men of the 
army are indebted largely for the Soldier's Home in 
Washington. 

On December 27th, 1860, he received the following 
telegram from the War Department ;— 

"Intelligence has reached here this morning that you 
have abandoned Fort Moultrie, spiked your guns, 
burned the carriages and gone to Fort Sumter. It is 
not believed, because there is no order for any suoh 
movement. Explain the meaning of this report." 
/. B. Floyd, 

Secretary of War. 
Major Anderson's reply was as follows : — 
"The telegram is correct. I abandoned Fort Moultrie 
because I was certain that, if attacked, my men must 
have been sacrificed and the command of the harbor 
lost. I spiked the guns and destroyed the carriages to 
keep the guns from being used against ns. If attacked 
the garrison would never have surrendered zvithout a 
fight y 

Not one member of the command except Anderson 
himself knew of his purposf^ to evacuate Fort Mo-iltrio 
until after that fort ha,d booii'.lis.nantied and al aiidc ned 
and the garrison was en route to Fort Sinntcr. 'J'Ijo 
flag was r;ii-^8tl over iSuinter wlrh |)niy*-^r. On tVnoi.'il. 
Anderson was eoni'-rred the high distinction of liolstinii;^ 
the flag anew over Fort Mimter, April 13, 1<S0g. 

Major Anderson at tha,t time (LSijl) was a comparative 
stranger to his command. Onh o»ne of the officers — 



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Seymour— had previously known him. The garrison 
consisted of less than one hundred officers and men 
all told ; two coaipanies of the First U. S. Artillery and a 
band of about twelve men. This is not the time to go 
into the glorious defence of Fort Sumter and its evacua- 
tion ; that belongs to history ; I am only giving you 
to-day facts that are not so well known. 

After Major Andersojt had returned from Fort Sumter, 
an officer, a life long friend, went to him almost 
broken hearted, having to choose between his state 
and his government. He said: "I was born in the South 
and, if my state secedes I must join her. But oh! the 
Old Flag, Bob; it will break my heart to fire against 
it." The Major put his arm around his friend's neck 
and said "It is all so clear to me that I have been 
spared all doubt. Where we were born was not a matter 
of our own volition, but, w/ieu jjue took the oath of 
allegiance to our govet twient it was an act of our inanhood 
and, my friend, we are bound to keep it". 

Much of the reeponsibility for the crisis at Fort 
Sumter was placed on its commander. His orders 
required him not to fire a gun until he was attacked 
He was not permitted to strike the first blow and thereby 
secure that moral advantage. But his faith never 
faltered. 

In May, 1861, tl>ough in failing health, by direction 
of the Prseident he formed and assumed command of 
the Department xof Kentucky. His wife (Union to the 
core), herself very ill and convinced that his broken 
constitution could not withstand the strain, begged 
him not to enter upon this arduous duty. He answered, 
with tears in his eyes, "my wife, my country first.'' 

His last labor of love before he went abroad was to 
write to all his old Army friends, asking them to join 
in his effort to form an Association of Graduates of the 
Military Academy. But one letter in reply has been 
preserved— that from General Thayer^which, with the 
original little book in which he had the autographs of 
all the members who met at the College of the City of 



New York a few days before he sailed, is now in the 
safe keeping of his Alma Mater. 

A few days after this—he had just been retired— the 
General set out for Europe to recup^^rate. He was 
received everywhere with much honor and distinction 
especially in Berlin and Dresden. In France he settled 
at Tours, where he had a very pretty place called 
"Paradis de Portillon." The officers and soldiers of 
the garrison invariably saluted him and the guard 
turned out when he passed the barracks. He w^as called 
by the soldiers and the people there "le General de 
Portillori'\ rarely was he referred to as '"General Ander^ 
son.'"' 

He was at Lyons during the Commune. One day, in 
driving, the carriage was met by a, crowd of Commun- 
ists with the tri-color and the cap of liberty. The car- 
riage was stopped, and the leader told the coachman 
to immediately put on the tri-color which was handed 
to him. The General arose and, throwing back his old 
military cloak (he was in undress uniform which he 
always wore, said in French) : "My friends, this is my 
servant for the time being and I will not allow him to 
wear the tri-color. " He stood, calm and collected, and 
waited. For a few moments the din was horrible. 
Finally some one called out "It is the American Gen- 
eral" ; then, awed by the quiet majesty of the man, the 
crowd shouted "Vive le general americain, Laissez 
Passer !" Every head was uncovered and, with a quiet 
salute in recognition from the General, the carriage 
with its occupants passed unscathed. 

General Anderson died at Nice on October 27th, 1871. 
The French authorities gave him a military funeral. 
The "Guerriere," sent by our Government for the pur- 
pose, brought his remains to this country, and the Navy 
delivered his body into the hands of his comrades of 
the Army at Fortress Monroe, where he had been in- 
strumental in organizing the Artillery School. He was 
given a public funeral in the city of New York, the 
Old Guard acting as Guard of Honor, and he was at 



last laid to rest at the spot he loved best on earth, the 
only home he had had during his life. 

Throughout his noble life his devotion to his God, 
his country and his family; his unvarying truth and 
honor his hatred of gossip and scandal endeared J^oderi 
A fide? son to all who knew him. 

I will now read a few letters showing how he was re. 
garded by men high in the alTairs of the nation ; also 
expressing his views regarding certain matters of duty 
and an extract from a newspaper of his day which re- 
quires no comment. 

Washington, D. C, 

March 4, 1861. 
My Dear Major: 

I have Just come from the inauguration of Mr. 
Lincoln. Let the issue be what it may, you will connect 
with your name the fame of historical recollections 
with which like itself can enter into no comparison. 
One of the most grateful of my remembrances will be 
that I was once your commanding officer. 

y. A. Dix, 

(Senate) 
Washington, D. C, 

February 12, 1861. 
My Dear Anderson: 

I received your letter with the greatest satisfac- 
tion. The sentiments it contained are noble and char- 
acteristic of you. Go on, my friend, as you have begun. 
Act out the part that has fallen to your part to the end. 
It is the end that gives character to human actions and 
puts upon them the seal of truth and honor. Yo^lr 
conduct has been the more conspicuous because of the 
many instances of weakness or worse in other public 
officers, who have allowed themselves to be overcome 
by soft words and flattering fallacies. Truth and 
honor are instincts of your nature and you have fol- 



(8; 

lowed their directions amidst difficulties and dangers 
I am proud to call myself your friend- 

I am as always, 

your frrend, 
y, y. Crittenden. 

Washington, D. C, 

May 1st, 18t)l. 
Major Robert Anderson: 
My Dear Sir: 

A few days ago I caused an official letter to be 
written to you through the War Department, expressive 
of the approbation and gratitude I considered due you 
and your command from this government. I now 
write this as a purely private and social letter to say I 
shall be much gratified to see you here at your earliest 
convenience, when and where I can personally testify 
my appreciation of your services and fidelity ; and, 
perhaps, explain some things on my part, which you 
may not have understood. 

With deep respect, 
StQcerely yours, 
Abraham Lincoln, 

October 27th, 1841. 
Adjutant General, 

Eastern Department, 
Sir: 

I forward herewith, my oath taken this day on 
the notification of my promotion to a captaincy in the 
3rd Regiment of Artillery. 

Desirous that the reasons, which induced the appli- 
cation for orders to join my company, which, I now 
respectfully make, may not be misunderstood, I beg 
leave to state some of the most prominent. 

I believe, that however good and perfect may be the 
organization of the staff of an army, unless the char- 
acter, pride, and esprit du corps of the company officers 
have been elevated and maintained, that that army 



(9) 

cannot be depended upon either in peace or war. I be- 
lieve that one of the best means of obtaining these de- 
sirable ends, and of securing good discipline and per- 
fect order in the companies, is to keep the captains of 
the line with their companies- as experience. I think, 
has shown that no one but the captain feels that interest 
and pride in the welfare and condition of the company 
which are essential to make soldiers contented and effi- 
cient. 

I also think that a sound military principle which 
asserts that an officer holding two commissions should 
serve under the highest. My appointment as Assistant 
Adjutant General brought with it the brevet ranK of 
Captain. 

I this day took the oath on receiving notice of my pro- 
motion to a full captaincy in the line. 

Very respectfully, 
Your obedient servant, 

Robert Anderson. 
Captain, 3rd Artillery. 
Headquarters, E. L>. 

Acknowledged >«ov. 18, 1861. 

By John E. Wool. 
(Erom a newspaper of Wednesday, August 29th, 1832). 
"A scene at the Battle of Bad Axe during the Black 
Hawk War, August 2nd, '32." 

"When our troops charged the enemy in their defiles 
near the bank of the Mississippi, men, women and 
children were seen mixed together in such a manner 
as to render it difficult to kill one and save the other. 
A young squaw of about 19 years stood in the grass at 
a short distance from our line, holding her little girl 
about four years old in her arms. While thus standing 
apparently unconcerned, a ball struck the right arm of 
the child above the elbow, and shattering the bone 
passed into the breast of its young mother, which in- 
stantly felled her to the ground. She fell upon the child 
and confined it to the ground also. The babe was heard 
to groan and call for relief ; and before the battle had 



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subsided, Lieutenant Robert Anderson of theU. S. Army 
went to the spot, took from under the dead mother her 
wounded daughter, brought it to the place we had 
selected for dressing wounds, and placed it there for 
surgical aid. It was soon ascertained that its arm must 
come off, and the operation was performed without 
drawing a tear or a shriek. The child was eating a 
piece of hard biscuit during the operation. Jt was 
brought to Prairie du Chien, and we learn that it has 
nearly recovered. This was one among the many scenes 
calculated to draw forth a sympathetic tear for humau 
misery. The spurs won by the gallant young lieutenant 
on this day were all the brighter for this act of mercy." 

lA^wX^T^-eiXiX. Anderson was just 27 years of age ; he was 
Assistant Inspector General on the Staff of General 
Atkinson, and Inspector General of Illinois Volimteers, 
with rank of Colonel. It was in this campaign that he 
mustered Abraham Lincohi into the service. 

In eulogizing the noble dead thoughts crowd the 
memory, ideas follow each other too rapidly to be 
jotted down. Would it be amiss here to address myself 
to my younger comrades, who are to represent the 
Citizen and the i\ational Military Academy in the 
years to come, and to beg of them to study themselves, 
their strong points as well as their weak ones, manfully, 
candidly ; and so strive that when their race shall be 
run they may be able to look back and say "I have 
given my best to my country at all times, day by day, 
hour by hour. For the sake of those who follow I have 
led a temperate, pure life ; my posterity will be able to 
speak of me with such honorable pride as can the de- 
scendants of General Robert Anderson.'^ 

Tou of the Military Academy remember always that 
its best traditions originated with men who antedated 
the Academy, who were not graduates but institutors 
of it, and that it behooves you through life to recall that 
the brilliant minds which enter the service from else- 
where than our Alma Mater will ever struggle for the 
prizes in life, so that success on your part in upholding 



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those traditions and the honor of the Academy can only 
result from continued effort and study at all times and 
places, long after you 

"Doff the Cadet to don the Brevet, 
And change the Grey for the Blue." 

It is related that during the French invasion of 
the Tyrol, a young lad, a cripple from childhood, 
watched the men, women and children of his hamlet 
as they prepared obstacles along the roadways and 
other approaches, leaving beacons ready for firing to 
warn the neighborhood in need. That upon an occasion 
of holiday, when, owing to a fancied security due to 
snow and storm, even the sentinels had left their sta- 
tions to Join in the merriment, this cripple wandered 
out towards the beacon, and while there, painfully 
feeling that he had been, could be of no service during 
the attack, heard a murmur, a cautious treading of feet; 
fiually subdued voices and a clank of equipment com- 
ing not from the village but the reverse. He arose, 
struck flint to steel and started the signal fire. As the 
fiarnes spread and arose, answered by others more and 
more distant giving increased light, by shouts and the 
approach of rapid footsteps, he was exposed suddenly 
to view ; a volley rang out from the enraged invaders ; 
the lad fell wounded to death, but his sacrifice had 
resulted in the discomfiture of the enemy and he died 
in the arms of his friends, bright in the thought that 
he had given his life for his country. 

Longfellow says : 

''Lives of great men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime. 
And, departing, leave behind us 
Footprints on the sands of time. 

Footprints that perhaps another, 
Sailing o'er life's solemn main, 
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother 
Seeing, shall take heart again. 



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Let us then be up and doing, 
With a heart for any fate ; 
Still achieving, still pursuing 
Learn to labor and to wait." 

Yo2i.r opportunity is in the future. All cannot be 
equally brilliant; all cannot attain commensurate suc- 
cess; but it is well within the power of each one 
to contribute his best to the advancement of mankind 
and to the defence of his country. 

In every relation in life we find ourselves in contact 
with very varying temperaments. Many have peculiar- 
ities of form, speech, manner; fail in some way to be 
congenial to us socially, or satisfactory in ofQoial or 
other business relations. It adds very greatly to their 
use in the world, and equally so to our own peace of 
mind, to follow the Japanese rule. 

"See not, hear not, speak not evil." 

The greatest wrong and greatest scandal can develop 
from inuendo. Every officer or other person in garrison 
or camp life should carry no slighting, careless or ill 
considered tale to the detriment of any fellow ; but 
should seek to see, to bring out, to develop the better 
side of, the innate good that is in, everyone ; and thus 
crowd out so much of that darker life which will dis- 
appear as it lacks nutrition. 

While the lives of distinguished alumni constitute a 
just cause for commendable pride, we must ever remem- 
ber that side by side with them, vieing in patriotism 
and mental ability, have been the thousands of other 
citizens who gave up /?/?^/r vocations to take every risk 
for their country. Many of these latter began by carry- 
ing a musket, swinging a saber or pulling a lanyard ; 
others yet with the advantage of the shoulder strap. 
Name after name will rise to our memories and cause 
us to thank God that with such men as Gra^tt, Sherman, 
McClellan, Lyon, Meade, Thomas, Hunt, Upton — I cannot 
name all— were Logan, Buney, Hayes, Garfield, McKinley ; 
in lesser rank at that time Lawton, Egbert, Reilly so 



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many, so mauy— besides others still living who cannot 
therefore be named though well known and appre- 
ciated. Nor after the lapse of these many years, when 
honoring the memory of a noble Union soldier and 
calling up the names of his many eminent compeers ; 
when grateful that through their efforts our country is 
as it is imited and, perhaps, the happiest ; would it be 
amiss to name other American citizens who, although 
mistaken, were stauch and true to their belief of right. 
To name them because of their high character as men, 
of their ability as soldiers, and because such naming 
emphasizes what has just been stated. Such men were 
R. E. Lee, Jackson, J. E. B. Stuart, Longstreet, the two 
Johnstons, who were graduates ; Forrest, Colquitt, Gordon, 
Talliaferro, many noble men who were not. 

Hence the graduate of the Military Academy to-day, 
as well as those who aspire to be such, should bear in 
mind that duty to one's country is a sacred obligation 
upon every citizen; that to do one's best is none too 
much for the country to expect of each of her sons. 
That continuous elTort is essential to all ; no less is in- 
dispensable to win the lasting esteem of one's country- 
men or the positions of honor and trust for which every 
honest man should strive. 

In the noble, manly character of General Robert 
Anderson is to be found what every American should 
aspire to have in his; pure life, ability, integrity, 
honor, patriotism. 

Senator J. J. Crittenden, in his "Farewell to the 
Senate," said : 

"Long after Fort Sumter shall have crumbled away, 
brightly will stand forth the example of Anderson as 
that of a soldier true to his standard, and of an Ameri- 
can true to his country." 

This and the record of his life in his country's 
history constitute Anderson's epitaph. He has no mon- 
ument. 



